My Top Tip to Simplify Big Holiday Meals

posted by Andrea | 11/13/2018

Thanksgiving is one week from tomorrow, and we’re all getting excited at our house!

It’s the first big holiday break of the school year, and it will be so nice to have Dave, Nora, and Simon home from school for the long weekend (I’m also taking the long weekend off from blogging, which will be extra nice too!)

To top off the excitement, Nora’s birthday is ON Thanksgiving Day — it will definitely be a fun-filled day for our children and family.

I like to keep ALL holidays as simple as possible right now, but Thanksgiving is a big one for me — maybe it’s because we’ve often been the hosts for this big meal and I know how much work it can be to roast the “perfect turkey” and have all the foods ready at the exact same time so everyone can enjoy piping hot food together.

If you’re hosting a big meal this holiday season, let me share one tip that has completely revolutionized the way I prepare my Thanksgiving meal and drastically helped to simplify my most favorite holiday!

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My Top Tip To Simplify Thanksgiving Dinner = Cook The Turkey In Advance!

In fact, I go so far as to choose all recipes I can prepare entirely a day (or a few days) before, and then simply warm them up in the slow cooker or reheat in the oven on Thanksgiving Day.

Let me explain how I do this….

I buy my turkey at least a week ahead of time — if it’s frozen, it will need several days to defrost in the refrigerator (at least 3-5 days for big birds).

Usually 2 days before the meal, I season the turkey and put it in an oven bag (seriously, these bags are amazing, there’s almost no chance you can dry out your meat using them!)

The finished bird will not look like the perfectly golden birds you see in magazines (it will look really funny since the breast is facing down), but since no one else actually sees the full bird, it really doesn’t matter what it LOOKS like at this point.

Once the meat has cooled significantly, flip the turkey over (breast side up) and start slicing as many full slices of meat as you can (my preference is to eat slices of meat over shredded turkey for my Thanksgiving meal). Put the meat in a VERY LARGE food storage container — I often use 2 containers, one for white meat, one for dark meat.

Once you have the majority of the breast meat sliced, then move on to the rest of the turkey, slicing, carving, and removing as much meat as you can (even if you have to shred it — you will use the shredded stuff in other recipes).

Put your containers of meat in the fridge to reheat on Thanksgiving Day.

NOTE: Sometimes, if I know we’ll have WAY too much meat, I divvy up the turkey and put some in the freezer right away.

Now, time for the gravy and homemade broth!

Pour at least some of the juices and drippings from the bottom of your roaster into a large sauce pan to make turkey gravy (optional).

I prefer to make the gravy ahead of time as it can be finicky and hard to get JUST the right consistency. Once I get it to that point, I remove the gravy from the heat, let cool for a bit on the counter, and refrigerate in an air-tight container until Thanksgiving day.

NOTE: I don’t have a recipe for gravy on my site — I usually just whisk 1/4 c. of flour into 1 c. water or broth (in a small bowl or measuring cup), then I pour that mixture into the pan of hot meat drippings and continue to whisk over low heat until the mixture thickens.

This will work for roughly 2 cups of drippings — if you are making tons of gravy, you’ll want to whisk in more flour (or cornstarch).

Once my turkey and gravy are set aside in the fridge, I dump any extra juices and pan drippings into my biggest slow cooker. I add in all the bones and the turkey carcass and fill the rest of the slow cooker with water and some seasonings to make homemade bone broth.

I usually put in a few bay leaves, several smashed cloves of garlic, a sliced onion, some celery, and maybe a carrot or two. None of this is necessary, but I feel it gives the broth good flavor.

Turn the slow cooker on low and let it simmer all night long! Or, if you’d rather do it in a stock pot, let the pan simmer (with the lid on) all day.

Once the bones have been simmering all night (or day), turn off the slow cooker and let it cool for a couple hours. Then strain the broth to remove all bones, cartilage, and bits of skin.

You may then use that broth to make stuffing (see below) or simply divvy it up into containers for the freezer. It’s delicious and very nutritious!

Moving on to a few make-ahead side dishes!

If you made your turkey 2 days before Thanksgiving and let the broth simmer over night, it’s now the day before Thanksgiving… which means it’s time to make the rest of your side dishes.

I’ll also make some sort of potatoes and some sort of sweet potatoes or squash. Once these foods are fully prepared, I put them in large casserole dishes or baking pans in the fridge, and will simply pop them in the oven to reheat on Thanksgiving morning.

ON THANKSGIVING MORNING…

On Thanksgiving morning, put the sliced/shredded turkey (and some broth) back into the slow cooker on low so it’s nice and warm by the time guests arrive to eat.

Set your oven to preheat and eventually put your stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash , veggies, or any other warm side dishes you are serving in the oven at an appropriate time.

Pull your fruit and veggies/salad out of the fridge and set the table.

You’re done!

No more wondering if the turkey is cooked through, no more waiting until the last minute to make the gravy, no more burning your fingers trying to quickly slice the meat before it gets cold, no more trying to make 8 different things at the same time and hope they all finish cooking and baking at the same time, and no more huge mess to clean up after your busy day.

By making your turkey (and side dishes) a day or 2 ahead of time, 90% of the prep work AND cleanup is done before your guests arrive, which means you can most likely enjoy a hot meal with your guests — imagine that!

After the meal, put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, and package up any leftovers — either for the freezer or to send home with your guests (I save lots of extra yogurt and cottage cheese containers for this purpose).

Then enjoy the rest of your afternoon, doing whatever YOU want to do instead of holed up in the kitchen cleaning up after your big meal.

How do YOU simplify big holiday meals!

(Side Note: Dave and I totally lobbied for ordering Chinese this year — we got vetoed by the rest of the group!)

Kate

11/14/2018

Great post, as always! In my family, we do the turkey and many side dishes the day before. One thing I don’t do the day before is the mashed potatoes. I was wondering if you or any of your readers have any tips for how to make good mashed potatoes? Sometimes mine turn out lumpy, dry, or gummy. I have made a good make ahead recipe before (Pioneer Woman) but they have some other ingredients in them, like cream cheese, and I’d like to stay traditional.

Once the potatoes are done and ready to mash, pour off all liquid (reserving it if you used it instead of milk to add to mashing the potatoes) and set the pan back on the burner, with the burner turned as low as possible to dry out the last of the liquid. Watch so they don’t scorch, but this really helps make fluffier mashed potatoes. (Per my chef SIL)

Crystal

11/13/2018

LOVE all of this!

A couple of additional tips for the broth making:

1) Put all of the bones/veggies/spices in a good size piece of cheesecloth tied up w/kitchen twine. Then, you can pick the whole thing up when you’re done with your broth, let the liquid drain out of it & toss it all at once without having to strain it. Also, keep that broth crockpot going for MUCH longer! I let my 1st batch go for 24-36 hours on low. It is even better tasting & MORE nutrious if you can imagine! THEN, scoop out 1/4->1/2 of the broth, portion it out & freeze it. Next, fill the crockpot back up the rest of the way with water. Repeat this process every day for the next few days. I usually prefer 5-6 Total. It’s counterintuitive, but the broth this produces will NOT be watered down. It actually gets richer & more nutrious as the bones, connective tissue, etc. break down more & more. I think it peaks around day 5 or 6 & then it does begin to get less dense/rich after that. You will be amazed at how much broth just 1 bird can produce & how tasty it is.

Also, if I’m going to let it go for several days, I will make (2) cheesecloth bundles. (1) for the bones/carcass & another for the veggies & spices. After my 1st broth removal, I replace the veggie bundle with fresh every other day from that point until I’m done making it.

WOW –seriously! I never new you could get so much broth from one bird. What do you do with it all? Assuming you freeze it somehow — in bags in containers? I’ve been freezing mine in 1-cup containers and then popping the ‘broth cubes’ out to store in zip-top bags (I can get roughly 8 1-cup chunks in a gallon bag. However, this sounds like it would be gallons worth of broth! Very interesting for sure!

Lol. I use containers for the most part. It does make a lot, but you’re only taking away 1/2 the liquid volume each day so it’s not an over the top amount. I do it with any bones I have. Also, for meals other than a big holiday one, I Keep a bag in the freezer for the ones that come from random meals here & there & wait u til I have a decent amount accumulated before I start a batch of bone broth. I keep one for beef/poultry/ham- all turn out so so well! It’s amazing to have a stocked u freezer for soups in the winter especially. Plus, anything else that calls for chicken broth/stock that one might be making.

In regards to how I actually freeze it all, I usually try to have a variety of container sizes. I find that to be the most convenient & least wasteful when I’m actually cooking with it. Some recipes only call for a cup or 2, so I freeze some in those increments, plus larger containers & some in between.

Check your dollar tree for snack size bags that are oriented vertically. Mine started carrying these & they are awesome. They are 1 cup capacity & the side of the bag has it broken down into 1/4 cup increments. I will fill those for smaller amounts, freeze them flat so they stack well & then put those into a larger freezer bag since they are storage ones. I’ve been using those for about a year & they work really well. I have heard of people cooking it down to really condense the flavor & then “rehydrating it” if you will when they are ready to cook with it. I’ve never personally done that though so I can’t vouch for how well it works.

Now that I’ve started making broth this way, I can’t imagine ever not doing it. The quality & nutrious are leaps & bounds past store bought & it’s incredibly economical too. For me, an all around win.

Oh, & I’ve only got a household of 2 people, so with a family, I think you’d be surprised how quickly you are able to use it. Especially once you try it 🙂

WOW! I thought I was a broth pro but this is a completely new technique for me. I am so trying this! I have not used store bought broth in years. Every time I run low, I cook a whole chicken or two and make a big pot of bone broth.

If you’re already doing bone broth, you will LOVE doing it this way. The yield is amazing & it gets very rich in flavor each day. I know people that do it for 8-10 days, but It starts to get watered down after day 6 & to me it’s not worth it then. Plus, what I’ve already gotten up to that point is plenty! I’ve even stretched it in a picnch when I’ve needed it in a recipe if I had to. It’s so much richer than you can add some water to stretch it & you won’t be missing out much. If anything, it would be more similar to store bought at the worst. (Assuming one didn’t go crazy with adding water to a batch!) I was doing the same with cooking chickens before if I needed to get some broth made up until I found out about this method. Now I can just save bones as I go along & by the time I have enough bones saved up, I’ve still got at least some broth in the freezer. &, it’s not like all we eat are recipes w/broth in them either! I just cook like normal & use it as it fits in.

Sarah C

11/13/2018

Oh this is gold. I’m so doing this for Christmas as the host. I’ll end up with the lion’s share of the work but this will really simplify things. Any amazing recipes for holiday sweet potatoes (not covered in marshmallows)? I can’t eat white potatoes.

Cut them in chunks (with skin on), boil them until I can easily poke them with a fork and then mash by hand or feed them though my stand mixer. I’ll add butter (the real kind, not fake) and some greek yogurt. Lately I’ve also been adding Chipotle Lime seasoning from Trader Joe’s an extra kick.

yay — glad to help lighten your load this holiday season! As for the sweet potatoes, I just peel, boil, mash, add in a little maple syrup and cinnamon, then spread in a pan with pecans drizzled with butter. It’s super delicious (verging on dessert) without tons of sugar. Yes, there’s butter, but not much — and the pecans add a great crunch!

Erin

11/13/2018

My mom used to always make her turkey the day before as well. Although I have never done that, I got a instant pot this year so going to cook my turkey breasts in there this time and see how it turns out. Not cooking a whole turkey b/c too many picky children who won’t eat it anyway. Haha. Fingers crossed that it goes well.

Dave says I should get an insta pot and see if it helps speed up time in the kitchen, but I just don’t want ONE MORE THING to store! I will be looking for bargain deals on Cyber Monday though! Just in case 🙂

Avia

11/13/2018

I haven’t cooked my turkey ahead of time yet but I think I’ll try it this year. We usually do a traditional roasted turkey as well as a smoked turkey so it can get crazy on T-day!

For a couple year (before kids) we actually went out to eat for Thanksgiving. It was at a big, fancy hotel in our area where they had a smorgasbord of everything from traditional turkey dinner plus anything else you could think of. It was actually really fun and relaxing! My kids are getting old enough that I might start petitioning for that again.

Summer

11/13/2018

Oh my gosh! I just totally got to the end of your post, with allllllll your great tips and thought!!! I am gonna order Chinese this year!!! New baby and new widow, so it’s gonna be weird as it is, so why not!?!?

Angela

11/13/2018

I’ve only hosted Thanksgiving once, and when I did, I cooked the turkey a day ahead as well (that was my mom’s advice.) And then a family member told me I cheated by doing it early rather than at the crack of dawn. Gotta love it. 🙂

Brenda

11/13/2018

A little note about ordering Chinese: My son works at a Chinese restaurant and they are very slow (maybe even closed) on Thanksgiving. But they always plan on being open and extremely busy on Christmas Eve & Christmas. Let’s let the employees keep Thanksgiving for themselves and they’ll let us give them their Christmas tips!

I’m glad that you are planning to take the long weekend off from the blog, as well. We all need time to relax.

you can also order and pick up the day before. I’ve spent a lot of holidays alone over the last decade or so and generally was able to leave work a little early. This allowed me to order the lunch special so I had plenty of food and was able to leave a nice tip (I would go and do pick up.) Sadly, my favorite Chinese place closed because the block is being re-developed. Anyone have any recommendations near downtown Minneapolis?

Diana

11/13/2018

Funny, because I am about to cook our turkey this morning! We have been taking pretty much the whole Thanksgiving meal a few hours north to my grandma’s house recently, and with three little kids I try to get most of the dishes done a week before (and put them in the freezer) so that I also have time to clean up the kitchen before Thanksgiving day. (Because sometimes that’s a multiple day process in this house!) So I usually try to have turkey, gravy, potatoes, rolls, and bread to make stuffing in the freezer and then the day before Thanksgiving I make the stuffing, vegetables, dessert, etc.

I always do my turkey ahead of time and it saves so much mess and angst the day of. We just found out that we may have a newborn (through adoption) by Thanksgiving so I’m seeing what I can get done ahead of time, IF we do Thanksgiving at all this year. Just depends on timing. Thankfully, I am not hosting this year like I often do!

Ann

11/13/2018

I’ve done this, too! I like having the food ready, but even BETTER..is all that cleanup you can avoid on Thanksgiving day! I have a dressing/ stuffing recipe that can be frozen & it is deliciously moist. Also, a mashed potato recipe that can be frozen OR kept in refrigerator 10 days!! {It has sour cream & cream cheese in it} I’m much more relaxed with this kind of do•it•ahead cooking!

amen! That’s why I love cooking ahead. I have everything made (often in disposable pans) and EVERYTHING cleaned up before Thanksgiving day. I just put the pans in the oven (or slow cooker) in the morning and eat later in the day. Almost zero mess or cleanup. Plus, I honestly think the food tastes better when I don’t have to spend hours and hours preparing it earlier in the day!

Stacie Kaltz

11/13/2018

Andea this is genius! I guess I never thought to place the sliced meat in a slow cooker to keep it warm! I have about 20 ppl that come to our house for Thanksgiving, and I am always trying to cook multiple dishes plus the turkey. This will totally alleviate all of my stress! Thank you for sharing! Enjoy your holiday and break! 🙂

Amy

11/13/2018

My grandma (who passed away last year) always did such a good job of making our holiday meals ahead of time. She’s the one who taught me to make turkey & gravy. I agree about the oven bags- makes it so much easier! We’re hosting an early Christmas meal this year, so I’ll be putting some tips into action. Thanks for your advice!

Carol

11/13/2018

This all sounds great….except that I don’t like the taste of “reheated” turkey…especially white meat. My trick is to reheat it in gravy, but that wouldn’t work for serving on Thanksgiving Day. How do I get past this?! By the way, Andrea, I love your blog and think you are amazing!!

Maybe have all the other sides done ahead and just cook the turkey super early in the morning on Thanksgiving Day? Then it could rest while you reheat the other side dishes, you could slice, and you’d have warm turkey with a hot meal. It wouldn’t be totally make ahead, but you wouldn’t be pulling it out of the oven at the last minute either. With hot gravy and potatoes and stuffing, you won’t notice the temperature of the turkey.

Sam

11/13/2018

Wow this is a game changer for me! I’m hosting my first thanksgiving and I love the idea of making the entire turkey and gravy ahead of time so I’m not fussing and worrying about it. Is it done? How much longer? What if it’s not ready in time?? This is great!! Also if I totally mess it up I have time to get an emergency replacement turkey!

Stephanie

11/13/2018

Thanks for the ideas, Andrea! I’m going to try this. I usually prep several dishes ahead of time but leave some for that day. It tends to be a little nerve raking hoping that everything is done at just the right time. I would like to relax and enjoy Thanksgiving but it can be a big work day!

Abra

11/13/2018

I will definitely be doing this when I host Thanksgiving (not this year, but one of these days)! There are a lot of great ideas here that have me thinking about what I can prep before our church dinner Sunday. Plus, I will not be so exhausted…I can enjoy the celebration!

The biggest tip I have used the past few years is to peel your potatoes the day before you are making the dish. Let them soak in room temperature water overnight. Rinse them & start preparing the dish. I bring mashed potatoes so I can do this/make them ahead of time.

I make The Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes every year for Thanksgiving. I always make a day or two in advance, cover and refrigerate. The day of, I reheat in the microwave on low (power level 5) and stir to get even heating. You can then stick in the oven covered with foil to keep warm until serving time. I get tons of compliments without any of the last-minute work. Try it!

calliope

11/13/2018

LOOOOL Chinese! way to go girl! I keep asking my husband for pizza and a movie on New Year’s eve but it still hasn’t happened! Thank you for your tips! We may not celebrate Thanksgiving in Greece but we do hold several big feasts a year.